Chapter 143: Chapter 101: Activating a Qi Blood Level Talent
After confirming that his parents had indeed never been to Hengsha City, Jiang Che gave up the search there and returned to Lin Yuan City.
Along the way, Jiang Che mulled over all the possibilities.
But no matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t come up with any solid leads.
Upon entering the city, just as Jiang Che was heading home, he suddenly came across a troop of soldiers arriving from outside the walls.
They wore tattered armor, and every one of them appeared to be injured. Some even had the bodies of their fallen comrades slung over their horses.
Many passersby stopped to watch, but they were quickly shooed away by the city guards.
Over the next few days, Jiang Che made a point of visiting a Seven Stars Gang teahouse to gather information. As expected, he heard many people discussing the incident.
After a day, Jiang Che pieced together these fragments of information and formed a fairly accurate picture of the situation.
It turned out that an Earth Castle near Lin Yuan City, which guarded a stretch of farmland, had been overrun by Horse Bandits. They had seized the fields as well.
This farmland accounted for over thirty percent of Lin Yuan City’s total grain production. If they just handed it over, everyone in the city would go hungry the following year!
The County Captain had dispatched troops to annihilate the Horse Bandits, but the bandits proved to be unexpectedly strong. The County Soldiers were routed, suffering disastrous casualties.
Combining this with the information Zhang Xiong had given him and what he himself had witnessed on Moon Viewing Mountain...
...Jiang Che became even more certain that these Horse Bandits had their sights set on Lin Yuan City.
’Looks like I really need to think about a backup plan...’
Jiang Che sighed.
As for that plan, after much deliberation, he felt that Cangzhou was his best bet.
For one, according to Zhang Xiong, Cangzhou had the formidable Qilin Army.
An ordinary rebel army or group of roving bandits would stand no chance against them.
In addition, Cangzhou was also home to many Major Sects.
In the Great Chu of today, aside from the imperial court, the various Major Sects also wielded a certain degree of autonomy.
With these Major Sects presiding over the region, it was less likely to fall into chaos.
It was nothing like a small place such as Lin Yuan City.
The most powerful factions here were just slightly larger gangs.
They were good enough for dealing with ordinary people.
But against an organized rebel army, they would be utterly useless.
After all, the rebel armies had plenty of Martial Artists of their own, and they used military formations, making it easy for them to surround and annihilate the independent fighters of the Martial World.
The problem was, Jiang Che’s entire life was currently in the city. This was especially true for his supply of Exotic Beast Meat, which he primarily sourced from the Seven Stars Gang and the Martial Arts Hall.
Without Exotic Beast Meat, his Qi Blood couldn’t be replenished, and his body would gradually weaken. A regression in his Realm would be a small matter compared to the possibility of shortening his lifespan.
Besides, there were still no clues about his parents. Jiang Che couldn’t bear the thought of leaving just like that.
Furthermore, the situation in Cangzhou was an unknown. He had no status there, and there was no guarantee they would even take him in.
Besides, it wouldn’t be so easy for the Horse Bandits to take Lin Yuan City. Even if the County Soldiers were weak, defending a city was always far easier than attacking one.
In the days that followed, Jiang Che resumed his search for information about his parents.
But after a month, he had found nothing.
Left with no other choice, he sought out the Four Seas Tower, an organization that specialized in selling intelligence.
The Four Seas Tower was located inside an unassuming residence in the West District of the Outer City.
An old man sat listlessly by the door, smoking a dry pipe.
Outwardly, there was nothing unusual about him.
Jiang Che even began to suspect he had come to the wrong place.
But after Jiang Che gave the correct countersign, the old man let him inside.
Inside the residence, there was a secret door in the back.
After passing through several more doors, Jiang Che arrived in a hidden chamber.
It was dark and cramped.
He could faintly make out a table with a masked figure sitting behind it.
Jiang Che could sense that this person’s Qi Blood was incredibly vigorous. They seemed to be a Force Integration Artist!
An information broker who was actually at the Force Integration Realm—this boosted Jiang Che’s confidence in the Four Seas Tower’s capabilities.
Jiang Che then stated his request.
The person contemplated for a moment before replying that this kind of case was difficult. The missing people weren’t famous, so the investigation would take time.
"But can you find out anything?" Jiang Che asked.
"There’s no information the Four Seas Tower cannot uncover," the person said confidently.
The voice was somewhat androgynous, making it impossible to tell if they were male or female.
"Alright. What’s the price?"
"One thousand taels of silver."
"That expensive?!"
Jiang Che was stunned.
"If you could have found them yourself, you wouldn’t have come to us," the figure stated calmly.
Jiang Che was speechless, but since it was true that he couldn’t find any leads on his own, he agreed.
"How long will it take?"
"A month at the earliest, a year at the latest."
Jiang Che nodded and paid the silver.
Since he had earned a good deal of money from selling Black Crystals previously, a thousand taels was a manageable sum for the current Jiang Che.
After accepting the silver, the figure stated that they would send someone to inform him if they found anything.
In the days that followed, Jiang Che continued his Martial Arts Training while waiting for news.
「In the blink of an eye, half a year passed.」
「In the Jiang Family courtyard.」
Jiang Che wielded his Kunji Saber, his figure a blur as he moved about the courtyard. Finally, he leaped high into the air and brought the saber down on the Big Iron Bell.
A piercing shriek rang out as the Big Iron Bell was cleaved in two!
Jiang Che slowly withdrew his saber and exhaled.
’The Flowing Light Saber I got from the Horse Bandits has reached the Perfection Realm...’
With a thought, he summoned his status panel.
[Name: Jiang Che]
[Age: 18]
[Realm: Qi Blood Third Realm·Mid-stage Iron Skin]
[Qi Blood Martial Dao: Cloud-Stacking Fist (Perfection), Flying Swallow Step (Perfection), Prison-Suppressing Saber (Perfection), Shadow Tracing Step (Perfection), Flowing Light Saber (Perfection), Eight Sufferings Vajra Zen (Perfection), Five Poison Technique (Minor Achievement) (47/200)]
[Skills: (Omitted)]
[Talent: Divine Movement, Heart Stream, Omen, Rejuvenation, Mountain Collapse, Break Extreme, Insight, Stacking Force, Sword Momentum, Invisibility, Fury]
[Divine Abilities: Heart of the Black Abyss]
...
After breaking through to the Iron Skin Realm, the Experience Points for all of Jiang Che’s Qi Blood Martial Arts were unlocked.
Within half a year, he had trained all of these Martial Arts to the Perfection Realm.
